The angora content makes this yarn shed like a demon during the knitting process, but the result is a gorgeously soft beret that feels divine against the skin. Once it is washed and blocked, the shedding seems to stop being an issue.

This hat is a slight variation on the pattern, as I wanted to allow for my slightly loose gauge and avoid too much slouch.

My variations were as follows…

a) to reduce the number of stitches in the final round of increasing (where it says K1, YO… I did K2, YO instead)

b) to reduce the number of lace pattern repeats in the widest part of the hat (where the pattern says to do two repeats before decreasing for the brim, I only did one repeat).

c) to omit the little icord tag in the middle of the hat.

Other than that, I followed the pattern faithfully. I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a fast and pretty beret - it makes an ideal gift. (I have found that it blocks really nicely over an inverted dinner plate!)